


Winter Happenings

by SkyVulpes



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Agender Character, Agender Remy Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders Are Twins, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders is a Little Shit, December - Freeform, Demiboy Deceit | Janus Sanders, Emile is a kid, Gen, Genderfluid Character, Genderfluid Morality | Patton Sanders, He/She Pronouns For Janus Sanders, Nonbinary Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Nonbinary Character, Snow, Trans Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Trans Male Character, Xe/Xem Pronouns For Remy Sanders, but we'll try, cant promise anything with updates, janus' snake is named william snakesqueer, logan loves his books, logans cat is missing a leg and his name is poinsettia, most of these tags will come later, prompt list, prompts, remus' ferret is named eris, remy is their older agender sibling, romans dog is name aurora, update tags as we go, virgil's spider is named rosy-posy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:21:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 8,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27822184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyVulpes/pseuds/SkyVulpes
Summary: Basically found a December Prompt List and decided to give it a go.Shenanigans in winter.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Everyone, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Everyone, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Everyone, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders & Everyone, Deceit | Janus Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Dr. Emile Picani & Sleep | Remy Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders & Everyone, Morality | Patton Sanders & Everyone, Sleep | Remy Sanders & Everyone
Comments: 10
Kudos: 23





	1. Snow

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically me just trying to actually follow through on a prompts list but i cant find the source of the one im using

It was the abrupt crash in the library followed by a yell of “SORRY” that roused Logan from his thoughts. Tilting his head, he peered around the corner of his bookshelf in an attempt to find the culprit. When nothing popped out at him directly, he turned back to the stack of books sitting on the floor by his side. Glancing out the window, he absently noted that the snow was coming down a little heavier than before. 

Another thud sounded out from somewhere that was just a little too close for comfort. Jerking his head up to look out of his aisle again, he was suddenly face to face with a pair of rather stunning green eyes. 

A Cheshire grin spread underneath those toxic eyes, and the ‘stranger’ cackled at Logan’s shock.

“Well, hello there!” a hand was extended in greeting. “Fancy seeing you here!”

Logan blinked before letting out a tired sounding sigh. “Remus, this is the only library on campus. I told you yesterday I would be here.” 

“Oof, teach, not even a hello?” Remus clasped a hand to his chest, adopting the dramatics of his brother for a brief moment. “And here I thought you’d be happy about having company!” 

Logan narrowed his eyes. “Janus locked you out of the dorm again, didn’t he?” 

Remus shrugged. “Well, to be fair, I was bringing up maggots and tapeworms every time he tried to eat.”

Logan’s face twisted in mild disgust before he decided that there was no use trying to get rid of Remus at this point in time. Gathering up his books, he gently placed them in his bag and carried it up to the counter. Remus followed behind him, still yammering on about how “tapeworms basically just fuck themselves to make babies, Logan, I don’t know why she was freaking out so much it’s not that bad-” 

The person working at the counter looked a bit intrigued, but scanned Logan’s books without saying anything. 

When they were done scanning his books, he wasted no time in cuffing Remus about the head with a huff of disbelief before stepping out into the storm outside. Scrunching up his nose to adjust his glasses since he was reluctant to stop holding his coat closed, he squinted at Remus. 

“Is that really the only thing you’re wearing?” he questioned, taking in Remus’s lime green crop top, black plaid skirt with fishnet stocking and combat boots. Remus himself was shrugging on a hoodie from where it had been firmly wrapped around his waist. “Is that Virgil’s old jacket?”

“Yes to both!” Remus chirped before a tree decided to dump a layer of snow directly onto his head.

The ensuing cacophony of noises from a frigid Remus was enough to make Logan stifle a snicker.

“By the way,” he said. “What was the banging from the library? I assume it was you.” He cocked an eyebrow at Remus, who’d fallen suspiciously silent. “Remus.”

“I broke a shelf and accidentally wreckedsomebooksinthehistorysection,” he blurted out before bolting of into the snow with Logan hard on his heels.

_“You cannot tell me you ruined a number of books and just leave Remus Duke Kingston!”_


	2. Holly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remy and Patton go shopping for decorations.

“Babes, you cannot be thinking of getting that one.” Patton grinned at Remy, rocking back and forth as xe watched her with raised eyebrows. Hoisting the box of the inflatable lawn reindeer higher, she shook it in Remy’s face.

“But isn’t it cute?”

Remy gave her The Look of Extreme Disbelief. “It’s literally the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen, and I grew up with Roman.”

“So it’s beautiful!” 

Remy gestured impatiently towards the visual of the product on the box. “It looks like it's doped out on meth or something. Look at that stupid smile!” Xe didn’t budge when Patton gave xem puppy dog eyes. “No! Hun, I will not be seen with that thing! Go look at the holly wreaths or something to match the _six boxes_ of lights you decided to snatch for no goddamn reason.”

"But they _change colors_ , Remy, isn't that _cool?"_

"Iced coffee is cool, but sweetie, those will prove to be an eyesore."

Patton trotted off, muttering under her breath about how the lights would be _very_ pretty strung up, thank you very much.

She was still carrying the ugly lawn decoration under her arm.

Remy sighed and gave up, trailing after her as xyr attention drifted back to xyr phone. When xe drifted over to where Patton was, xe was promptly met with a bunch of stabby leaves and hard berries to the face as Patton whirled around to ask for an opinion.

Patton jolted back, apologies spilling forth even though her eyes glimmered with mirth behind her glasses. Remy slowly spat out a leaf without breaking eye contact and carefully took the wreath from Patton. 

“So I suppose this is the one?”

“If you want it to be!” Patton smiled disarmingly. “But you know we have to get one for everyone.”

“We do not. Babes, you know like, half of us live together, right? Not whatever you’re thinking.”

“But they’re pretty! And look!” Patton reached over and touched the leaves gently. “They’re still really alive! And in good condition! It’s hard to find wreaths like that!”

Remy’s face twisted in confusion. “What? No it’s not-”

“Come on, please?”

Xe stood firm for maybe ten seconds before breaking. “Fine. Grab… three. No more, alright, hun?”

“You got it!” Patton headed for the self checkout after carefully selecting the other two holly wreaths.

“Babes?”

“Hmm?”

“Put the reindeer back.”


	3. Santa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan and Janus talk while doing nails.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's so short

“I don’t think it’s immoral, per se, just a bit unethical.” Janus didn’t look up from where he was painting his nails. 

Logan stared at her. “You’re telling me that you don’t see the problem with adults telling their children a jolly, fat man wearing red, sneaks down their chimney to leave presents for them? All at night?” Janus shrugged, finally transferring her gaze to Logan while she blew on her nails to dry them. “That is, quite literally, breaking and entering.”

“Exactly. So it’s not immoral, just unethical.” He beckoned Logan closer and reached for his hands. “Pick a color.”

“Blue.”

“Oh, please, be as specific as possible.”

“Hex #082567.”

Janus paused, eyes flickering to the side before she grabbed her phone and typed it in. “Dark sapphire.” He sent him a baleful glare. “Just say that.”

“Back to the matter at hand, teaching a child that breaking and entering is acceptable on a so-called holiday is incredibly stupid.”

“Did your parents tell you that Santa was real when you were younger?” Janus looked at him with real curiosity, the light reflecting off the burn scar obscuring half his face.

“They used the term ‘Father Christmas,’ but yes.”

She waved it off. “Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas or Kris Kringle, whatever. Do you remember how it felt?”

“To have my parents lie to me?”

“To have something that made you excited to go to bed because you thought something magical was going to happen.” He reached for the other hand. “Don’t be a dingbat.”

“I believe I ascertained the fact that he was but a fable rather quickly,” Logan sniffed. He relented after another sharp look was sent his way. “But… yes, I suppose I do.”

“That’s why you may not, under any circumstances, tell Emile that Santa isn’t real.” Janus rolled her eyes. “Remy would kill you xemself. Patton too.”

“I see.”

“Do you want designs? I’ve been practicing.” He held up a little bottle of silver nail polish and shook it invitingly in Logan’s direction. 

“...I assume you are familiar with the De Stijl movement?”

Janus grinned and went to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and feedback are appreciated!


	4. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone comes to visit, and Remus does exactly what one would expect.

Remus was the first to arrive, bounding in with Janus on his tail. Patton greeted them at the door while Remy hung back in the kitchen to fight with the coffee maker as it struggled to work with grating wheezes. 

About ten minutes after Remus and Janus, there was Logan at a much more sedate pace with Roman. (By this point Remy had finally acknowledged that the coffee maker was on its last legs, but he wasn’t happy about it in the slightest.) Patton flitted about, explaining that they just had to wait for Virgil and their brother to arrive to start the movie marathon. 

“I didn’t know Emo Nightmare would be taking this long,” Roman harrumphed, knocking his brother’s hand away from where it was stealthily reaching for the remote. Remy whacked him with the nearest pillow and ignored the yelp.

“Shut up, Prince, y’know they’ve gotta grab Emile from school. Besides!” Xe flopped down on the couch between xyr brothers. “Honey, we haven’t seen either of them for two months! Aren't you excited?”

Five more minutes passed before there was a tentative knock and three more harder raps on the door.

Remus sprang up and slunk over to it, reaching for the doorknob slowly before yanking it open with a yell. There was an answering shrieking giggle and a low, threatening voice, and the door swung open to reveal Virgil and Emile. The latter was swooped up by Remus and tossed haphazardly to Remy while Virgil watched with twitching fingers.

“Oh! Virge! Glad you could make it!” Patton’s head emerged from beneath the kitchen island. Holding up a hand with a green bracelet clasped around the wrist, he waved. 

Virgil relaxed slightly. “Hey Pat.” Emile skittered over to Patton, already talking as fast as he could and tripping over his words.

Logan glanced over at Virgil as they shook the snow from their boots. “Did he say you obtained a pet spider?” Dark blue eyes gleamed with curiosity.

They nodded, swatting snow out of their hair. “An Ecuadorian purple tarantula. Her name’s Rosie-Posy because I let Emile name her.” They shrugged. “She’s actually pretty sweet, but I probably shouldn’t show her to Patton. Ever.”

“That would be wise,” Janus said in unison with Logan. She smiled at Virgil sharply. “Absolutely _horrible_ to see you again, darling.”

Remy stepped in. “Babes, we’re not starting this right now.”

“Uncle Roman!” Emile bounced back into the room with a handful of marshmallows. He leaned in to stage whisper in Roman’s ear. “Did you bring it?”

“You mean… THIS?” Roman whipped out a disc from behind his back and showed it to be a complete Steven Universe collection. Emile squeaked and bolted over to Virgil. 

“Can we start watching it right now, Vee? Please and thank you? Pretty please with sugar on top? You can have my veggies!”

“Emmy, I always end up with your veggies. You don’t like them,” Virgil pointed out, dragging a hand over their tired smile. “And you haven’t eaten anything since school.”

“I was too excited to eat in the car!”

“And now we’re out of the car, and I’m sure Patton would adore it if you sat next to him while we ate dinner,” they wheedled. 

“We can watch it after dinner, okay sweets?” Remy crooned. “And if your nibling has a problem, they’ll have to answer to me!” Xe sent a mock snarl at Virgil.

Remus fought to regain his spot on the couch and patted the spot next to him. “While we wait for the foodstuff to be done, why don’t I tell you about the birds and the bees?” 

There were matching yelps from the kitchen (Patton), the bathroom (Roman), and Remy. Janus and Logan moved as one, Janus promptly shifting to suffocate Remus with a pillow and Logan turning Emile to face him and start with “The birds and bees are decreasing at an alarming rate and they need our help so they can help us back, okay? So, ensure that you do not cause the type of damage nature takes a while to come back from.” Emile nodded along seriously.

“Oh my god, Remus, if you ever pull that type of shhhiiiitake again, I will murder you,” Remy snapped, glancing over at Virgil before swiftly switching away from the cursing.

“Okay food’s done please just get in here sothatdoesn’thappenagain,” Patton called nervously.

Virgil ruffled Emile’s hair. “You go and sit down buddy.”

“Aren’t you coming?”

They turned an unfriendly eye to where Remus was still being smothered and simply said, “We just need to have a talk with _Uncle Remus_.”


	5. Holiday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman tries to get Virgil into the spirit of Christmas.

“C'mon, Virge! Christmas time! Get excited!” Roman flung a hand out, nearly caching Virgil in the face as he did so. 

Virgil gave him an unimpressed look, shifting farther away on the couch as they responded. “First of all, Christmas isn't for another three weeks. Second, you know I like Halloween better. And,” They continued, holding up a hand, “just because you think Christmas and Disney music are on par with each other doesn’t mean the rest of us do too.” 

Roman slunk back into his blankets, grumpily muttering “your brother thinks so” under his breath. Virgil rolled their eyes. 

“Emilie is seven. What else does he have to be excited for right now?” Silence answered them other than the creaking of the couch springs. “If you touch that radio, Roman Prince Kingston, I swear-!” 

_“I~ don’t want a lot for Christmas~!”_

“ _Roman_!” Virgil squawked as he sprang up and grabbed them, pulling them into a swift dip before spinning. "No! Knock it off- we’re not doing this right now-!”

“But if not now then when, Jack Skellington? Live in the moment!”

“Logan would agree with me that you’re acting insane in the moment!”

“Ah, but Pocket Protector isn’t here, is he?”

If anybody would’ve asked later, Virgil would violently deny giggling at Roman’s antics as they spun around the room together in a whirlwind of purple patchwork and red sweater.

Roman would simply smirk and look away.

When the song finished and a new one started up, Roman didn’t even pause before switching to an almost ballroom-esque dance to match the tune.

“Why do you always lead?” Virgil complained lightly, the grin on their face doing nothing but contradicting their words.

“I mean if you really want to lead…” Roman trailed off before flinging himself into a dip in Virgil’s arms, throwing off their balance and making Virgil trip over a roll of wrapping paper left on the ground from earlier. With a yelp, they both went down and hit the ground with a thud. Aurora trotted in and yipped excitedly at her owner and his friend on the floor before joining them.

“Roman!” Virgil spluttered, still shaking with a bit of residual laughter. “Get your dog off me!” 

“No! Look at her face! Even she’s excited for Christmas!” Roman shook the Australian shepherd’s face gently, making little kissing noises as she tried to mouth at his hands. “Say you’re thrilled that Christmas is coming and I’ll get her off you.”

“What? No!”

“Fine.” Roman shrugged. “Aurora, sit.”

Virgil’s breath whooshed out of them as Aurora firmly planted herself on their stomach. “God, fine! I’m fucking _delighted_!” They wriggled. “Now tell her to get off! She’s fat!”

“She’s not fat, how dare you! You’re just skinny!”

“That’s not how this works,” Virgil wheezed before giving up entirely with a fond eye roll.


	6. Charity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton asks Remy and Janus to come to the shelter with them for a fundraiser.  
> Janus gets something out of it.

“Really?” Janus arched an eyebrow at Patton, firmly ignoring Aurora by her feet until the dog settled down with a sigh, for which she was rewarded with pets. “And you want _us_ to do this with you?”

“Gonna have to agree with him there, sweetie.” Remy took a sip from xyr coffee. “We ain’t really the type of people one would voluntarily choose to bring to a fundraiser.”

“Everyone else is busy though, and I promised Elliot and Marissa I’d try to bring friends to help!” Patton wrung the bedazzled red leash in their hands nervously, light purple bracelet jingling. “And when I asked earlier you guys said you were free.”

“I believe Remy’s exact words were ‘I’m only free if food’s involved, honey,’” Janus interjected smoothly. Remy shot her a filthy look. 

“Oh like you were any better,” xe jeered. He nodded his head in considering agreement. 

“I suppose so.” she turned back to Patton. “Why are the others ‘too busy?’”

“Well, Virgil had to watch their brother and apparently panic wrote an entire essay the night before it was due, so I told them to take a nap while they were at it. Remus said he had a drag show going on later tonight so he wanted to spend quality time with Eris and then screamed because she’d gotten out of her cage-” Janus and Remy winced, knowing the damage the albino ferret would likely cause. “- Logan had to study for an upcoming exam and Roman had theatre practice.” Patton finished counting off their fingers. They blew out a huff of air, rocking back. “So that leaves you two.”

“Where is this fundraiser, pray tell?” Janus crosses his arms and waits for it.

“...The shelter down the road.” There it is.

“I assume that’s why Roman handed off his creature to you before the practice?”

“Yeah. He says she needs more social interaction. I don’t think so though. You’re just fine, aren’t you cutie?” They cooed at the little dog.

“Babe, this little monster goes wild every time another dog so much as _looks_ at her.” Remy ignored Janus’ snicker. “And besides; I don’t like her,” xe declared.

Patton’s affronted gasp mingled with Janus saying “you’re just bitter because she bit you on the leg that one time when you didn’t give her treats fast enough.”

“While that may be so-”

“Patton, one more quick question.” They looked over at Janus. “Is it at least an inside thing? It’s fucking freezing out, and I refuse to stand outside in ripped skinny jeans and a leather jacket.” He sent a pointed glance at Remy, who smiled winningly and shook xyr iced coffee around.

“Not my fault you’re weak.” Remy sounded smug.

“It is inside, and the best part is that you get to pick an animal to bring around with you! They’ve got snakes~!” Patton sang out watching Janus weakening with satisfaction. 

“Weird, slimy little things,” Remy mumbled into xyr cup. 

“Just for that, you don’t get a choice.” Janus seized Remy sleeve and dragged xem out the door, disregarding xyr complaints.

* * *

Three hours later, Janus walked out of the shelter with a disgruntled Remy and a skipping Patton leading Aurora (who had actually done quite well all things considered).

And a little black and yellow rosy boa coiled around Janus’ arm under her coat.

“His name is William Snakesqueer,” he later announced with thinly veiled glee, bouncing in place slightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, i made roman's dog be named after a disney princess while Remus has a ferret named after a dreamworks villain


	7. Giving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Kingston siblings and gifts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOME times i like to pretend that my brother hasnt threatened to shoot me, so this is more or less based on the way some of my friends act with their siblings

The Kingston niblings were starting to see a pattern. 

Some days, Roman would stumble out of his room and find a snack or a mug of hot, steaming liquid that would steadily help him shake off his sleepiness. Other days, a paint set, fabrics he’d been eyeing for potential use in theatre later, or even just some makeup he’d left open on his browser at some point or another.

Likewise, Remus would often tumble out of his bed and find a new binder waiting for him in all manner of designs. Most seemed to be handmade and carefully selected. Other times, there would be a ferret toy that’d he’d been trying to complete the night before finished for him, chocolate covered crickets, and, on one occasion, an inflatable t-rex suit.

Remy would wake up to small trinkets on the nightstand by xyr bed, be it a charm for xyr bracelet, a gift card for somewhere xe’d been looking at for a while. At one point, xe woke up after a particularly trying night to find that someone had switched off xyr alarms and laid a fuzzy blanket over xem after xe had curled up on the couch to watch a movie.

They each feigned indifference when they asked each other about it, Roman often simply turning away with a haughty scoff so they couldn’t see the warm blush of pride on his face when Remus strutted about in his new “designer titty compressors” or when Remy ruffled his hair and loudly called him a sentimental moron while the new coffee shaped charm sparkled near his face.

Remus would hold up Eris and wield her at them if they approached him to ask if he’d been the one to leave whatever it was, threatening them with the ferret if they ever told anybody he actually gave a single iota of shit about them. Roman usually grinned and left without much of a fight, leaving the younger twin victorious, but Remy would sweep him up into a hug while holding the ferret away from xemself.

Remy, as the oldest, had to always make sure it looked like xe didn’t care about xyr brothers at all. But xe would admit to being guilty of hugging the life out of Remus and taking special care to mess up Roman’s hair in the times it was deemed necessary. 

Everyone else in the friend group could see that they gave a half a damn about each other at the bare minimum though.

Nobody ever commented on it though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im really sorry about how short this is  
> we didnt really vibe with writing today, but we still wanted to keep up with the prompts


	8. Smile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emile is up for the challenge, and Patton's just glad people are looking happier.

Patton frowned slightly as he tapped on the counter, flipping through recipes and glancing around at the others.

Virgil was firmly stationed in their own chair, curled up with their feet tucked under them and headphones on as they swayed slightly to the music, sketching while glancing at the others every so often. A little bit distant from the others, Patton noted, and a little too pale and wild-eyed for his liking. 

Roman and Remus were basically laying on top of each other, the younger twin on top of Roman while tapping away at some game on his phone. Roman flicked through a magazine with glazed eyes, more or less being lulled to sleep by his brother’s weight and the steady droning of the documentary Logan was taking notes on, dark bags under his eyes as his face creased in concentration.

Remy was having a quiet conversation with Janus, tension stark in both of their forms. Janus was mostly watching William Snakesqueer as he slithered around her hands. When the rosy boa made his way over to Remy, xe breathed in slowly before trying to pet his head lightly. Patton stifled a snicker when he saw Remy shudder and hurriedly pass the snake back to a silently laughing Janus.

Emile was leaning against Aurora, coloring while the dog snored and twitched at random. Patton's face lit up as he whispered “Emile!”

The seven year old looked up and scampered over when Patton beckoned. “Yeah?”

“So I was wondering,” Patton started. “Are you up for a challenge?”

Emile crept closer, a smile spreading across his face as he nodded vehemently. 

“My challenge for you…” He paused. “Is to get the others to smile! They look like they need it.”

“I can do that!” Emile bolted over to his sibling, lightly poking Virgil’s cheek to get their attention. When they lifted one side of their headphones, he leaned in and whispered something that made Virgil chuckle tiredly, wildness fading from their expression slightly. They got up and stretched, joints clicking in a way that drew Remy and Janus’ attention flip to them.

They brought their hands up and snapped to get the others’ awareness brought to them, and started signing rapidly. 

_So I was right about it being a nonverbal day_ , Patton thought.

“Hang on, Vee, I can’t read that fast.” Remy watched Virgil’s hands intently, mouthing the words along with the slower signing. “A snowball fight? Ain’t we a lil too old for that?”

Virgil shrugged and pointed to Emile. 

“As long as I’m a team captain,” Janus yawned, sliding off the couch. “Logan can be the other one.”

“Remy can be the referee,” Patton volunteered, shooting a wink at Emile.

Logan looked up and blinked. “I suppose a break would be beneficial for my health.” He twisted to crack his spine. “If I am to choose my team, I want Remus on mine.”

Janus signed something at Logan in one sharp movement. Logan arched a brow, nodding to Virgil and Emile. “And apparently them as well, since you seem to have forgotten Emile knows sign language.”

While Virgil glared at a rapidly paling Janus, Roman rolled over to dislodge Remus and ambled over to her, slinging an arm around Remy. “So you’re on this team. You too Patton!”

"What, no! I'm the ref, hun!"

"Gotta make sure the teams are even."

There were stifled laughs and barely contained grins as the idea fully set in with a vengeance.

After getting dressed for the actual outside, Logan, Remus, Emile and Virgil tramped over to one side of the yard while Patton, Remy, Janus and Roman took the other side.

Patton’s eyes gleamed. 

“Let the games begin.”


	9. Snowball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The snowball fight commences.

Unsurprisingly, it was Virgil that threw the first snowball, which sailed through the air to hit Janus in the shoulder. Emile shrieked as he had to dodge the return fire from Roman, ducking behind the wall Logan was creating.

Remy stooped down to wedge xyr coffee cup in the snow and grab a handful of crunchy ice particles. Packing them together, xe was woefully unprepared for Remus’ projectile to hit xem full force in the face. Xe spluttered and pawed at xyr face, swinging out and launching xyr own snowball in the general direction of Remus. There was a faint _oof_ within the shouts of the others, and Remy smirked before opening xyr eyes. 

Logan was flat on the ground, shoulders shaking from the force of his laughter even as Virgil extended a hand to him, keeping a wary eye on the opposing team.

Emile was throwing some clumsily made snowballs, shrieking with laughter as Aurora jumped up and snapped her jaws around every one she could actually reach. If one got close to Roman though, she would speed over and lunge for it before shooting back to the other side of the yard. 

Roman seemed to be aiming for Virgil the most, but so far he had been unsuccessful in actually _hitting_ them. Virgil kept a constant, mocking little smile on their face as they swayed out of the way in dead silence, only pausing the making of the snowballs to sign vaguely insulting things at Roman.

Patton was taking every opportunity to creep over to where Emile was now just making snow angels and tousling with Aurora. When he finally reached the two, he snatched Emile and swung him high over his head, yelling “I’ve captured a hostage!”

“Brilliant, Patton! Bring the prisoner to me!” Roman ordered, eyes on Virgil, who had gone horribly still with their eyes fixed on Emile. 

“Virgil, do you think you could handle Patton?” Logan murmured, not bothering to hold Remus back as he cackled and took off. They nodded and hefted one of the bigger orbs with a meaningful look.

Patton barely knew what hit him before he was face down in the snow with Emile tripping constantly his way back to Virgil. 

“Holy shit babes, are you okay?” Remy leaned over Patton in concern and was promptly tackled to the ground by Remus. Xe gave a yelp as snow was firmly stuffed down xyr coat, and Remus scrambled up and away.

Janus, who had been making his way around the perimeter, came up behind Virgil and captured them in a loose headlock. 

She was not expecting the absolutely feral way Virgil thrashed about, spinning around and smooshing the handful of snow they were holding into Janus’ face. When Janus fell though, he managed to take Virgil down with him and wrapped himself around the shorter. Virgil gave up rather quickly and laid on Janus, breathing heavily with wheezes of quiet giggles and trembling from the cold.

They ended up staying on the ground as everyone else continued the battle overhead.


	10. Evergreen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton and Logan take Emile to get a tree.

“Logan! What about this one?” Patton twirled around the tree, light blue skirt swirling out around them as they examined the tree from all angles. Emile was over somewhere else, looking at the christmas lights display, but he came over to see the tree as well. 

Logan made his way over, shaking the tree lightly to discard any dead needles still attached to the branches. “I suppose this one would do,” he said, still eyeing the tree cynically. 

“Great!” Patton swept Emile up and deposited the child on Logan’s shoulders before hoisting the tree themself. Logan and Emile exchanged a wide-eyed look as Patton made their way over to the checkout. 

An employee with the name tag reading ‘Dylan’ and a trans pin waited to scan their tree and a candy bar that Emile “snuck into the purchase.” Dylan’s eyes flitted between the three of them, and he had a half-smile when he said “your kid’s really cute.”

Patton let out a bark of laughter while Logan spluttered. “He’s simply our friend’s younger brother,” Logan huffed, cheeks faintly red.

“Ah. Sorry. Will that be all?”

“Yes. Thank you.” 

Patton was still snickering by the time they got back to the car. Emile kicked his legs as he waited in his car seat, humming quietly to himself and tapping out a different rhythm on the seat next to him. 

After securing the tree, Logan breathed into his hands in an attempt to regain warmth that was lost grappling with the tree.

“Alright!” Patton chirped, sliding into the passenger side. “When we get home, we have full permission to start the tree since no one knows when they’ll be able to come over.”

“Can I put the star on?” Emile wriggled against the seatbelt.

“I don’t know how we’re gonna get Roman up there, but sure!”

Logan thumped his head on the dashboard and finally started driving after a hard look at Patton. 

The drive passed mostly in silence other than Emile tapping the car door and swaying in place while crinkling the plastic of the candy bar.

Pulling up to the house, Patton once again took care of the tree by themself, requesting that Logan grab the extra boxes of lights and leave one of them on the porch for later.

They ended up putting the star on first, purely because Emile was getting antsy.


	11. Fireplace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil hasn't been sleeping

Virgil didn’t really know why they had decided to stay the night along with everyone else, but it was _far_ too late to back out now. 

And if they disappeared like they oh-so-dearly wanted to, that would just upset Emile and Patton.

But they couldn’t sleep, so they had turned to padding around the house on light feet, sticking to the edge of the hallway near the walls to keep the squeaking of the floorboards to a minimum. Rounding the next corner, Virgil stopped short at the sight of the fireplace still blazing strongly. Letting their eyes adjust to the abrupt change in light, they took in the sight of someone sitting on the sofa with a mug in their hands. Creeping closer, Virgil froze as an amber and brown gaze flicked up to meet their own purple and green. Janus’ mouth twisted into a mocking parody of a tired smile.

“I don’t bite, you know.”

Virgil didn’t move, other than shifting their weight to the other foot. 

“Are you coming over?”

They shrugged, stare finally dropping as they scuffed at the carpet with one socked foot. Janus sighed and patted the space next to him softly, turning back to contemplate the flames once more. The sofa dipped as Virgil carefully settled down next to her, and she wordlessly offered her tea mug to them. They curled their fingers around it and shuddered when it burned the skin on their hands. 

“Trouble sleeping?” Janus watched them from the corner of his eye, the amber briefly turning a sharp golden. “No. You didn’t go to sleep at all, did you.”

“Why do you care?” they muttered, voice creaking from disuse.

“Because according to your brother, you’ve not slept for… what? Four days? Five?”

Virgil flinched minutely at the rising volume, making slight gestures as if to calm a wild animal as they shot a quick look towards the hallway. “I’ve been busy.”

“And now you’re not, but your body is used to being busy right now.” Virgil took a sip of the tea to lieu of an answer. “And why didn’t you talk to the others?”

“Didn’t want to bother them,” they murmured into the cup.

Janus rolled her eyes. “If you pass out, I think that will cause much more worrying for them. Myself included. Why didn’t you come talk to me?”

And oh, there was so much meaning packed into that one, carefully phrased little question that Janus knew only the two of them would pick up on. Virgil winced slightly, averting their eyes from where they had slid back over to Janus with their owners permission.

“...Thought you’d be mad.”

Janus’ head twitched over so he could finally face the other incredulously. There was silence for a beat, other than the crackling of the flames and the squeaks of the couch springs. 

She watched Virgil gently set the tea off to the side and made to get up. Before they could, he wrapped an arm around their shoulders and pulled them down. Squirming around to alter the position to be more comfortable, Virgil didn’t make a sound until their head was laying against Janus’ chest and tucked under his chin. Janus brought up a hand to lightly stroke their hair, the other hand making small, smoothing motions on their back. 

Virgil stared, wide-eyed, into the fire as Janus started humming quietly. Without really knowing why, tears began welling up as their breathing hitched a few times.

If Janus noticed the growing wet spot on his pajama shirt, he made no mention of it, but he finally smiled when he felt their breath even out as Virgil fell into sleep with a hand firmly grasping at the fabric by their face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> do with this what you will  
> i had feelings


	12. Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emile and Roman hang out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the schedule going screwy  
> we'll try to fix it by tomorrow
> 
> nothing is promised though

“I want a dress like that!” Emile announced, pointing at the movie. Roman glanced up, a smile growing on his face as he took in the Sugar Plum Fairy on screen.

“Well, little prince, perhaps you could ask Virgil to look for it later.” Roman plucked Emile from the ground and swung him up onto his shoulders, throwing out his arms extravagantly after making sure the kid was stable. Roman winced slightly at the sharp pain of Emile tugging on his hair, but carried on. “But for now, we must make do with… magic,” he finished in a whisper.

Emile gasped, leaning in close with eyes wide as the moon. “What kind of magic?” 

“The magic, my dear prince, of _imagination_.” He set him down lightly, handing him a paper crown his hands had been busy with earlier.

Emile was frowning. “How do we imagine though?”

“Have you never played pretend with your friends? With Virgil?”

“No one really hangs out with me during recess and Virgil usually reads me stories. But they do voices for all the characters, and sometimes even shadow puppets!” 

Oh. “Well that just won’t do!” Roman started rummaging through the toy props box that had been sitting in the corner for god knows how long.

Blowing dust off the foam sword, he tossed it to the seven year old and bit back a smile as it _thunked_ over his head instead. Dancing around Roman excitedly, Emile kind of reminded him of a corgi.

“Onwards, Sire!” 

“To the... lake!”

“Lake of what, your majesty?”

“ _Hot chocolate_.” Emile sounded deadly serious.

“....Alright.”

On their ‘adventure’ to the kitchen to get said hot chocolate, they fought a dragon that Emile eventually tamed (a stuffed plushie), a fearsome beast that threw Roman to the ground after they struck a weapon that squeaked loudly to alert the creature of their presence (and honestly, Aurora had caught them by surprise), and asked the local witch (Patton) about the brew to help regain their strength after their travels.

The hot chocolate was as epic as the escapade they had endeavored to go on.


	13. Poinsettia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan is going to get a cat soon.

Logan’s fingers traced the soft leaves of the plant on the windowsill. “Poinsettia. Also known as _Euphorbia pulcherrima_.” 

“No one calls it that.” Virgil scrunched down further into their blanket. “Besides, you’re planning on getting a cat, aren’t you?”

“Ah. Yes, actually. Who told you?” He blinked at the mound of blankets and pillows forming a sort of nest around Virgil. “Are you not unbearably hot?”

“Nope. And Roman told me. What kind of cat?” Virgil peered up at him from their phone. 

“A year old black cat. And it is after Halloween, so I will be able to adopt him by now.”

Virgil squinted at him. “Why wouldn’t you have been allowed to before? Landlord?” 

“No. some places have banned the adoption of black cats around Halloween time as people are liable to adopt one for the month and use it as nothing more than a festive decoration before returning it right after the holiday.” Logan’s mouth was in a tight, sharp little smile while his fingers spasmed like he was trying to prevent them from becoming fists.

An effort that Virgil very much appreciated.

“Black felines are also much less likely to be adopted, simply because of an utterly foolish superstition, whereas ginger tabbies are rather high in adoption rates.” 

Virgil hummed in acknowledgement, still keeping a wary eye on Logan’s hands. “Well, you do need to make sure he can’t get to the poinsettia or whatever the fuck you called it.”

“ _Euphorbia pulcherrima_.”

“That’s what I said.”

“I can assure you, it’s not.”

Virgil shifted in place curiously. “...What’s his name?” 

“The cat?”

Virgil nodded, shifting to hold out a blanket to Logan, who deigned to curl up by the other. “I’m not sure as of yet,” he said, glasses catching the light and momentarily blinding Virgil. “He is missing a foreleg, however, and I have a vague worry that Patton will insist on making his name a pun.”

“It’s not Pat’s cat though. He’s yours.”

“That is an excellent point. I’m still at a loss.”

“I can’t help you there. I let Emmy name my spider.”

“I’m not letting your brother name my cat,” Logan said flatly.

“Didn’t think so.”

Virgil’s gaze drifted in the silence that followed, alighting on the plant by the window. Their lips curled up into a barely suppressed grin.

“What about naming him Poinsettia?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there are strong feelings about the treatment of black cats as you can see


	14. Traditions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mistletoe and Remus probably shouldn't mix.

“Oh Logan~!” Remus sang, dangling a bunch of mistletoe over him and Logan in the doorway. “Lookit what we’re under~!” 

Logan blinked, caught off guard for a moment. “How long have you been waiting for someone to walk through here?”

“Two hours!”

“...Wow.” He made to push past Remus, but the youngest Kingston stopped him with a pout. “What?”

“No kiss? Really teach?” He fluttered his eyelashes and pursed his lips. “But I’ve been such a good boy this year~!”

Logan rolled his eyes, recognizing that Remus was unlikely to let him go any time soon, and leaned forward to press a swift kiss to Remus’ forehead. He walked away as Remus froze, and a blush settled over both of their faces.

“I wasn’t prepared for that! You were supposed to do it on the lips!”

“You never said! And it’s not an obligation to do it on the mouth!”

***

Emile was the next one Remus caught, and this time it was near the TV while the seven year old sang along to the theme song of the colorful cartoon on the screen.

“Emmy! Mistletoe!” 

Emile gasped and had to scramble to stand up on the sofa to reach Remus’ cheek. Remus scooped him up and spun around, crowing victoriously about how “someone truly loves me holy shit!” while Emile giggled helplessly in his arms.

“Did you just curse in front of the thing that Virgil holds most dear in the entire world?” Janus poked his head around the corner of the wall, only to get hit with the mistletoe.

“Oh, Janny, now you must kiss me to save my life,” Remus yelped, collapsing on the floor in a heap after moving Emile to a safer spot on the floor. 

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were picking up your brother's penchant for being stupidly dramatic,” Janus snarked as she stalked over before seizing Remus by the front of his shirt and kissing him lightly on the nose. After dropping him, Janus picked up Emile and carried him out of the room on his shoulders. 

“Let’s go find Virgil, okay darling?”

“Okay!”

Scurrying after them, Remus almost ran smack dab into Patton but was instead caught by the taller. “Are you okay Remus?” Patton peered down at him, but glanced up at the movement of Remus’ arm bringing a new thing of mistletoe above them.

Patton grinned sweetly and asked, “Do you know how to butterfly kiss?” 

Remus narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “No?”

“Hold still.” Patton leaned forward until they were close enough that their faces nearly touched. Patton’s eyelashes brushed Remus’ and they blinked in tandem before Patton pulled away and cheerfully called that the brownies were almost ready. 

Remus was taken enough off guard that he barely had enough time to nab his twin and toss the mistletoe at him. Roman went into a bow so low Remus heard his hip crack and laughed as Roman shifted a little with a look of confusion before shrugging it off and barely brushing his lips over Remus’ knuckles.

“Will that be all, Duke Remus?” Roman’s eyes sparkled with laughter.

“That will be all, court jester!”

“You mother-”

“Boys!” Patton called. “Language!”

Roman beckoned Remy over with a “just get it over with and you’ll be free to go.”

Remy didn’t even wait for Remus to do something with the plant. Instead, xe chose to simply wrap xyr youngest brother in a hug and press a chaste kiss to his head. 

“Love you, idiot,” Remy mumbled into his hair before stumbling away and falling onto the couch. 

“He had a late night shift again,” Roman said by way of explanation.

“Virgil!” Remus shouted. “You’re the last one! Kiss me, you fool! Be the dashing royalty to rescue me! Let's get married! All that jazz!”

Virgil appeared from the room that Janus and Emile had gone into previously, looking at Remus in confusion. “What?” 

“Mistletoe!”

Virgil blew out a breath, turning their eyes skyward before stepping closer. They kissed their own hand and, not breaking eye contact with Remus, lifted it to tap him on the cheek. 

“...Y’know what? I’ll take it!”

“You cursed in front of Emile?” Patton said from where Janus was whispering to her. “Why would you do that?!”

“Aaaand gotta go bye!”


	15. Greetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remy got a bird.

“Hi! Hello! Hey! Hello! What’s up? Hi!”

“Remind me again,” Logan said, peering disdainfully at the cage in the corner. “What possessed you to get a screaming bird?”

“In my defense,” Remy started before stopping. “...I have no defense, but he’s just excited! Aren’t you, Coffee Bean! Yes you are!”

A long screech came from the cage. Logan snorted.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming babe, I’ll let you out.” Remy ignored Logan’s look. Or at least tried to. “What? It’s the only way he’ll calm down! Don’t judge me!”

“Oh, I’m judging,” Janus murmured from where she was nursing her mug of mulled cider. “I’m judging quite a bit.”

“Says the one who calls himself a snake mama,” Remy shot back, smoothing down Coffee Bean’s ruffled feathers. 

“William Snakesqueer is cute and quiet, which is more than can be said for your deformed feather pillow,” Janus snapped, ears tinted red.

“How dare you-”

“Both of you, zip it. Remy, may I hold the parakeet?”

“Excuse you, he’s an Indian Ring-neck Parakeet to be exact.”

“Subspecies of the psittacula krameri, yes, I am well aware.” He held out his hand again. “May I hold the bird?” 

“Sure. Coffee Bean, say hello to Logan, sweetheart!”

The bird bobbed his head, eyes fixed on Logan, and he chirped three times in rapid succession before whistling out a cheerful “Hello!”

“Hello… Coffee Bean.”

“And that’s Janus but you don’t have to say hello to her.”

“Hey!” Janus snapped.

“Hi!” Coffee Bean trilled.

"Why does it sound like that weird fairy thing from those Zelda games?"

Remy ducked xyr head and looked away without answering, which was an answer in and of itself.

"Hello!"

"Coffee Bean, you were supposed to be quieter outside of your cage!"

"Clearly William Snakesqueer is the best if your bird can't even be quiet."

"Not true," Logan said. "You've not met Poinsettia or Rosie-Posy."

"Oh, you're right."


	16. Wish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton gets an early present from Emile.

“What do you want for Christmas?” Patton startled at the small voice as they puttered around the house, finishing the final decorative touch ups to the rooms. Emile had been scurrying around behind them for a while, but this was the first time he’d spoken in a while.

“What do I want for Christmas?” They asked, crouching down to clarify. Emile nodded, rocking back and forth on his heels.

“Well…” Patton opened their mouth before taking a moment to really think about it. “Oh. I don’t actually know. Whoops!” They shrugged at him apologetically with a grin. “I’ve been more focused on everyone else. Too busy to really think about it, I guess.”

“But you’ve gotta have at least _one_ thing, right?” The seven year old pressed. “What did you always wish for on your birthday?”

“My birthday? My birthday isn't on Christmas, silly!” they teased, poking Emile in the stomach gently.

“But if you didn’t get what you wanted on your birthday, then you can try again during Christmas,” Emile pointed out through his giggles.

That was… a surprisingly good point. “I guess I always wanted something… cuddly? Like a rabbit or… a frog or something.”

Emile scrunched up his face in what looked like disgust. “Frogs aren’t cuddly!” He protested. “They’re slimy!”

“It’s not slime! It’s mucus!” Patton laughed, dancing around the room and swinging Emile through the air. 

“So you want a frog? Or a rabbit?” Emile questioned, clearly already thinking.

_Oh no_. “Aw, honey, that’s really sweet but you don’t need to get me a-”

“I’ll get both!” Emile squeaked triumphantly, darting out of the room to go find Virgil.

“Oh dear, Remy’s going to kill me,” Patton murmured, already thinking about the mess a frog and a rabbit would cause, despite the knowledge that Virgil would likely stop Emile from doing anything remotely close to that.

* * *

“Pat!” Emile shouted when he and Virgil came through the door for the second time that day.

“Y’can’t give it to them right now, Emmy, it’s not Christmas,” Virgil said tiredly.

“But it was a birthday wish so it could be a really really really late birthday present!”

“Ah, can’t argue with that, Virge.” Patton smiled at Virgil, who simply rolled their eyes and muttered something grumpily under their breath.

“See?!? Here!” Emile thrust a hastily wrapped package in Patton’s face and stood by, bouncing in place as Patton slowly tore off the paper.

A soft, plush, gray rabbit and a large stuffed toy in the general shape of a green and yellow frog stared up at them. Patton reached out and gently felt over the fabric, heart in their throat as they lifted the toys from the paper with a breathless little squeak of delight.

“Do you like them?” Emile sounded nervous now, twisting his hands behind his back.

“I love them!” Patton swept him up in a bear hug and proudly showed the plushies off to Virgil, who was watching in thinly veiled amusement.

“Meet Mr. Toadstool and Babbity Rabbity!”

Virgil snorted. “Did you really name the rabbit after a Harry Potter thing?”

“Yep!”

There was an affectionately exasperated sound that Patton barely paid attention to while they rubbed their fingers along the downy material of Babbity Rabbity’s ears and held on to Emile for a while longer after that.


	17. Nutcracker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman reminisces.

Roman remembers when he was younger and had been absolutely terrified of Nutcrackers.

There was no real reason for it; or at least, not one that made sense, but fears weren’t always rational (something that pissed Logan off to no end). 

The first time he’d seen one standing on the shelf at a store, he’d practically bolted past it to keep it from reaching out and grabbing him. When they’d gotten home though, he chided himself for not being as brave as the prince he was supposed to be.

That didn’t matter, since they never actually went back to that store, but Remus had done his damnedest to help his slightly older twin get over the fear.

If only that hadn’t been grounds to make his own version of nightmare fuel.

To this day, Roman still doesn’t know what the fuck Remus used to make his own little nutcracker. He’d also blocked it out after too many nights of peeking at the thing sitting on the shelf of their shared room.

He’s still convinced it was watching him while he slept.

Of course, the fact that some mornings he would wake up with it an inch from his face, jaws clicking together while Remus crooned about nibbling toes and fingers like chicken strips helped exactly none.

Carefully grabbing the handmade toy from the box, he turned it over in his hands. Huffing out a short breath, he crept over into Remus’ room and placed it on his pillow, opening the little maw and placing a kitkat in lengthwise.

If he woke up three hours later to Remus laughing and bounding into his room with the nutcracker clutched in his hands, well.

That was no one’s business but his and his brother’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we have a *slight* fear of these stupid little things
> 
> comments and kudos are appreciated


End file.
